Merchants See Purchase Of Store As A Good Thing

Investors To Buy Peter's Building

July 16, 1998|By KYM SOPER; Correspondent

MANCHESTER — It's a ``win-win situation,'' can be heard up and down Main Street these days as area merchants wait for two Hartford investors to purchase Peter's building on the corner of Main and Locust Streets, current home to Peter's Furniture City Inc.

``It will bring in inventory and managers and employees to run a professional organization,'' said Jack McVeigh, owner of The Bike Shop at 681 Main St. ``And I think that will be a big draw for downtown.''

``We've got fresh young blood with fresh young money looking for a fresh new opportunity,'' said Robert Dorin, owner of Manchester Hardware True Value at 877 Main St. ``I don't see any negatives.''

Traffic is another buzz word. Merchants believe the new owners will bring more shoppers to the downtown area.

The investors, Newton Brainard and Samuel Fingold, owners of Newsam Realty LLC, plan to buy the building for $940,000. They plan to renovate the storefront downstairs and offices upstairs and attract a national retailer as an anchor tenant.

Ronald Bezzini, who owns the building, says that Peter's Furniture will not go out of business, though.

``If the deal goes through, we still have a lease, but I don't know for how long,'' said Bezzini. ``We're getting older, so we just want to sell the building and then just run the business.''

When the lease expires, Bezzini said that he plans to relocate Peter's Furniture somewhere in Manchester.

Brainard and Fingold also have a $200,000, 90-day option for a parking lot across Locust Street, next to the Gulf service station.

Robert Turin, downtown special services district manager said that in the past, only two outside parties have shown an interest in investing downtown.

But now downtown ``is at a level that [it] has begun to create some outsider interest,'' said Turin. ``You can buy a lot of buildings on a lot of Main Streets for a million bucks,'' but the developers are interested in Manchester.

``When was the last time we saw almost a million dollar deal in downtown Manchester?'' asked Chamber of Commerce President John Anderson. ``When you look at it from a long term, the jobs it will bring in, the traffic it will bring in, the foot traffic. The spinoff will be people shopping in the smaller, specialty stores.''

Newsam Realty LLC looked at several properties in the Hartford area, said Brainard. They were attracted to Main Street in Manchester because of the improvements that have been made.

``They've done a wonderful job in repositioning Main Street,'' said Brainard. ``They've put a lot of work and money in an infrastructure viewpoint and it's a wonderful entryway to the town.''

On July 7, the board of directors agreed to waive $30,000 of the more than $60,000 owed in back taxes on the property. In exchange for the waiver, the investors have agreed to certain conditions should they buy the building, said Mark Pellegrini, director of planning and zoning.

The new owners cannot sell the building for five years and then must maintain the architectural integrity of the building.

``They cannot close off the store front glass and must stick to the general design principles of early 1900s commercial architecture,'' said Pellegrini.

``We are bound by that, but even if we weren't, we'd be happy to comply because we see that as a positive,'' said Brainard.

Other obligations for the waiver include operating the ground floor as retail space, and if it were divided into multiple stores, each would have a direct door.

The investors would also not be able to appeal tax assesment for the five- year time period and if they want to get out of any contract obligation, the $30,000 must be paid back to the town.

But Timothy Becker, board of director member, is unsure that the deal is a win situation.

``If they had come with a tenant who had signed on, I probably would have supported [the deal],'' he said. ``But now the town of Manchester is rolling the dice along with the investors. At the same time, we had a signed written agreement that the back taxes would be paid'' by the current owners.

Board of Director member Joe Negri says the town will regain the $30,000 through jobs and an improved economy and tax base in the downtown area.

``It's a favorable transaction for not only the buyer or the seller, but also for the downtown district,'' he said. ``There's so many pluses.''

With this deal ``we have our fingers in the pie,'' said Pellegrini. ``It provides a little bit of a comfort zone and provides us with a say on how the property is going to look and be used.''

The Main Street merchants are not overly concerned about the tax abatement. But they do want to make sure sure that the area keeps the small town character.

``Hopefully, downtown still is village charm,'' said Bernie Apter, owner of Regal's Men's Shops at 903 Main St. ``Here you can talk to an owner. A lot of us not only have our businesses here, we also own the buildings. You have a vested interest twice.''

Dorin, who bought his building last month, agrees, but maintains that bringing a national retailer would not change downtown's image.

``If they bring in a national retailer, it'll be run by local people,'' he said. ``You're not going to talk with somebody commuting from Iowa.''